Iona creates esports club with eye on regional competitions

Iona College has announced the launch of an esports club, which will compete in regional tournaments.

Iona”™s esports team will play a variety of games such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, FIFA, Overwatch, Rocket League, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Fortnite and Madden.

The college completed renovations on a new esports room this summer that meets the equipment standards of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, on which Iona-based teams across all sports compete.

“Our decision to create an esports program was to help support student engagement and retention on campus, while meeting students where they are in terms of their interests,” said Matthew Grimaldi, director of club sports at Iona. “A lot of these students are passionate about STEM and computer science. Now they have a group of friends who share the same interests, and they can bring their skills to a competitive level. It”™s really exciting.”